EVANS, Ga. (WJBF) – If you live out Washington Road past the Evans Walmart, you’re all too familiar with the widening project out that way. The project is taking longer than expected. Construction on the thoroughfare runs from Gibbs Road to William Few Parkway.

This three-mile, $30 million project that was supposed to be finished in 2017 is now going to be done some time in 2018.

Traffic conditions tend to get congested around this area where Washington bottlenecks into two lanes.

This project started in 2014 and aims to relieve traffic problems by adding another lane to each side and creating turn lane for several connected roads.

Columbia County’s engineering division says you can expect traffic shifts from one lane to another in the near future and credits rainy conditions during peak construction months for the delay.

“With the weather we had, typically the best construction months are between September and November and we had a lot of rain during what you consider prime construction time. So that’s put it a little behind as well as we had some utility issues,” said Steve Cassell, director of Columbia County Engineering Services.

With the opening of the new Parkway Elementary School this fall, traffic conditions could soon get worse during school hours.